


An Emo-pression Challenge

by gottawriteanegoortwo



Series: Sanders Sides (Ships) [4]
Category: Sanders Sides (Web Series)
Genre: M/M, light-hearted comedy and fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-03
Updated: 2021-01-03
Packaged: 2021-03-13 09:47:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,228
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28526457
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/gottawriteanegoortwo/pseuds/gottawriteanegoortwo
Summary: Virgil gives Roman an acting challenge. Roman rises to the occasion.
Relationships: Anxiety | Virgil Sanders/Creativity | Roman "Princey" Sanders
Series: Sanders Sides (Ships) [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1870759
Comments: 10
Kudos: 57





	An Emo-pression Challenge

**Author's Note:**

> Sorry not sorry for the punny title.

The mood was light in the living room. Virgil and Roman were chatting, reflecting on some of the work done by the group throughout the previous year. In the middle of it all, the running gag of everyone else doing their best ‘FALSEHOOD’ came up.

“I still think mine was the best,” Roman insisted, tilting his glass toward Virgil for emphasis. “In fact, I’d say I’m one of the best impressionists that don’t feel they have to disguise themselves.”

“I don’t know about that, Princey. Any impression you’ve done of anyone else has been overly flamboyant. If anything, you approach it like you were cast to play them in some crappy spin-off.” Knowing Roman well enough meant that Virgil could wag his finger to time precisely when Roman would react with a horrified gasp at the accusation.

“How DARE you! I’m the  _ ac-tor _ of the group. My skills are not to be belittled! I merely choose to give my characters a little more energy when I play them, that’s all. And besides! The ‘falsehoods’ were our spin on it, so that can hardly count!”

“Then prove your worth as an actor. Give your best impression of me and prove I could cast you in a movie of my life. High-energy is an instant fail.” The challenge hung in the air for a few moments, allowing Virgil a chance to sip at his own drink in peace. It was a risky move to challenge Roman’s bravado, but he couldn’t help the curiosity of seeing what Roman was genuinely capable of as an actor. The prince’s eyes were on his drink, focused as he weighed his options. 

“I’ll do it.”

* * *

Roman paced in a small circle in the living room, flapping his hands to try and shake off any extra energy building in him. Though it was nothing more than a small dare, he wanted to take it as seriously as an audition. It would be as good as - no, better! - than any other acting role he had taken on lately. If he were to play an emo, he’d play the broodiest emo of them all! He glanced at Virgil, who had perched on the arm of the couch. Even if the other looked relaxed, Roman knew he was being watched closely.

“Well?”

“Give me a second. I’m nearly ready. I need to be sure I can be the most miserable of emos.” Roman stopped with his back to Virgil. A long, slow breath was taken to steady himself. He turned, white jacket shifting into a generic, black hoodie. The body language flipped instantly as Roman slouched. A hand quickly moved to undo part of his hair and let it fall over one eye before he folded his arms. This was a challenge Roman was rising to, letting the ‘role’ shine in every aspect of his presentation. Nowhere was this clearer than when Virgil looked Roman in the eye.

Roman was normally animated in his facial expressions - second only to Thomas himself. Right now, there was no trace of that. Instead, his eyebrows were low, his eyes half-lidded as though exhausted. A frown pulled the corner of his lips down in a slight pout that conveyed his distaste with the world and everything that had colour in it. He even had conjured black eyeshadow to add to the part. He almost looked like he spent too much time in the darker corner of Thomas’ mind again, only less panicked.

Virgil had to hand it to Roman - he was impressed.

“Hey, look at that. The prince can be sullen for once in his life. There might be hope for you yet.” Virgil, realising he had sat forward in interest, forced himself to fall back against the couch again.

“I have to change my mindset to channel my inner turmoil,” Roman answered in a low, monotonous tone, “And that includes having three key phrases in my head at all times:  _ ‘angst’, ‘no one can understand me’,  _ and  _ ‘this eyeshadow isn’t dark enough to reflect the darkness of my soul’. _ ” There was a twitch in Roman’s lips, one Virgil realised was an attempt to not break character with the smugness of a compliment. It was a cliché impression, but what was Virgil himself if not an emo stereotype?

“You’ve nearly got the part, but you can’t make your eyeshadow purple. So I think I’ll have to skip over you. Sorry, princey.” A flimsy excuse given by Virgil to try and backpedal. He wasn’t used to showing how he cared for Roman or dropping his guard like this. A compliment was on the tip of his tongue about how having his hair out in a loose style really suited the prince. He had to stop himself before it got out of hand. It was better to give a rejection and let Roman sulk instead of having to deal with that.

However, Roman had other ideas.

The emo look remained as he broke character. An eyeshadow palette dropped neatly on his hand following a flick of the wrist. It was well-used, leading Virgil to believe it was one from Roman’s personal collection. He popped it open and showed it to Virgil to show the reds, oranges, yellows and purples of the sunset-inspired set.

“TRY ME, BRENDON UREEK!”

The outburst took Virgil by such surprise, he burst out laughing. A hand clamped over his mouth to try and stifle them, but it was to no avail.

“What’s the matter? I think ‘Purple Bitchberry’ would be an excellent shade! Much more fitting than ‘You’ve Got to Pink A Blossom or Two’ if you ask me. Or I could go wild! Experiment with a shade I’ve never used called ‘Night at the Mauve-soleum’ -”

“Oh my God stop, these are terrible!” Virgil tried to counter in a serious manner, only for another round of giggles to knock that plan out the window. His laughs only grew in strength, his own eyeshadow began to glimmer into a dark purple. Nothing as vivid as the time after the mall encounter, but Roman thought it to be like the last sparkle of purple in the night sky. So caught up in a round of laughter was Virgil, he missed the way Roman stopped the teasing and looked on with admiration and a smile.

“Yeah, you’re right. I should try and come up with better names. But if there was to be a movie of your life, you should play the lead role. No one can be you better than you, I think.” Virgil’s eyes shot open in time to see Roman give a light shrug. “Maybe you could check if purple eyeshadow suits me sometime. I’m sure I could better look the part of an emo with the right guidance.” Roman gave a half-bow, allowing his look to return to normal.

“You - you’d wanna do that?” Virgil’s question was met with a firm nod from Roman. “And no hidden conditions for me to do something stupid?”

“As much as I’d love to get you properly fitted in royal attire, I know that’s not something you’d want to do. I don’t mind taking a day’s break from my princely looks and duties if it means I get to do so with you.”

Virgil smiled, that purple under his eyes turned a few shades brighter, and Roman knew he was on to something good.

**Author's Note:**

> Shout-out to my friend Ace for the mini rp that prompted this!!


End file.
